Gukesh takes the lead of the Tata Steel Masters after 9 Rounds - 9

[PostBOTe]

Today produced an opportunity for the World Champion Gukesh to take the lead and he delivered by beating Mendonca in a good game with the white pieces. His co leaders could not match him, Abdusattorov, drew in a solid game against Caruana, and Praggnanandhaa lost to Giri. Gukesh played a complicated game and while his opponent Mendonca played strongly for much of the game, he needed too much time to do so and in zeitnot he made a bad blunder. Giri put Praggnanandhaa under pressure and although he missed a few chances to win earlier he still got the converted the advantage to a full point after the time control. Abdusattorov played mostly solidly against Caruana but there was one chance in the game, after 29...Rad8?! (29...Qd8) Caruana should have played 30.e5! with quite a nice advantage, but he spurned this chance and the game was quickly drawn. Abdusattorov is now in second place where he was joined by Vladimir Fedoseev who won a well-played game against Pentala Harikrishna. In the challengers group Nguyen continues to lead after both he and number two L’ Ami made draws today. In second place l’ Ami is now joined by Benjamin Bok who won easily against Irina Bulmaga. Masters Standings Round 9: 1st Gukesh 6,5 2nd Abdusattorov, Fedoseev 6 points, 4th Praggnanandhaa 5,5 points, 5th Caruana, Wei Yi 5 points, 7th Giri, Sarana 4,5 points, 9th Harikrishna 4 points, 10th Van Foreest, Warmerdam, Keymer 3,5 points 13th Arjun, Mendonca 2,5 points. Round 10 Jan 29 at 13.00 GMT Erigaisi vs Keymer, Abdusattorov vs Sarana, Harikrishna vs Caruana, Praggnanandhaa vs Fedoseev, Mendonca vs Giri, Warmerdam vs Gukesh, Wei vs Van Foreest, Challengers Standings Round 9: 1st Nguyen 6, 5 pts, 2nd L' Ami, Bok 6 pts, 4th Suleymanli, Nogerbek 5,5 pts, 6th Lu, Vaishali, Svane, Gurel, 5 pts, 10th Yakubboev 4,5 pts, 11th Pijpers 3,5 pts, 12th Faustino Oro 2,5 pts, 13th Divya 2 pts, 14th Bulmaga 1pt. Round 10 Jan 29 at 13.00 GMT Yakubboev vs Bok, Pijpers vs Bulmaga, Divya vs Svane, Nguyen vs Vaishali, Suleymanli vs Nogerbek, Gurel vs Lu, L'Ami vs Oro,

Source: https://theweekinchess.com/chessnews/ev ... r-9-rounds